BRIDPORT boss Adam Fricker admitted his players are “desperate to play football” going into the Bees’ then scheduled Toolstation Western League Premier Division clash with Odd Down at St Mary’s Field, which has since been postponed.

Fricker’s men arrived at leaders Street on Friday only to see their match postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, adding to their already lengthy fixture schedule.

And the Bees’ manager feels an extra week already granted to the league season may not be enough, fearing a compressed diary of matches could lead to an unrepresentative final league position.

He told Echosport: “They’re desperate to play football. There’s certainly been no comments of wanting the season to be finished. They’re just disappointed, but if the weather comes in we know it won’t be on.

“It’s difficult to a certain extent, (the extension) was needed. But we’re in April and you certainly wouldn’t have expected this weather to continue.

“That extra week gave them a bit, but I think we’ll end up playing every other day. We’ve got 18 in the squad so we can hope to keep everyone as fit as possible.

“It’s inevitable that we will drop points if we play four times a week - we might not get a true reflection of where we are in the league.”

Commenting on the challenge Odd Down pose to his side, Fricker was reluctant to write off the Down, who have dropped to 15th after holding a top 10 position for much of the season.

He said: “We know that Odd Down are a decent side, I don’t think the league table does them a true reflection. We certainly won’t be taking them for granted.

“We know that they can be dangerous and they’ve got some very good players in their squad.”

Bridport face the issue of attempting to keep their squad fit during a hectic period, and with more bad weather predicted for today, Fricker feels the problem may be compounded by the season’s end.

“We know it’s coming and we know we’re going to have to keep the squad fresh and rotated. As it stands at the moment we didn’t play on Friday so we’ll probably look to play the guys that start regularly and not look to rest everyone.

“It’s just going to compound towards the end of the season,” he said.

Leigh Bailey is the only absentee for Bridport owing to work commitments, meaning the Bees otherwise have a fully-fit squad - another bugbear for Fricker.

He said: “That’s frustrating because everyone is fit and available and it means a couple will miss out.”

Bridport currently sit in ninth but a win and other favourable results could see them rise to eighth above Cribbs.

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